Gursharan Sahota was born in 1960 in Kenya, East Africa, but has lived in Bedford, England, since he was 12. He took up Karate at the age of 14 and was awarded Black Belt 1st Dan (Shodan) four years later.

Now a 7th Dan, Gursharan has competed in a multitude of Kata and Kumite events, many at national level. The most significant event in his career however was the visit he made to Japan in 1984 when he fulfilled a great ambition by training in a Japanese Dojo under the instruction of Sensei Hirokazu Kanazawa.

Welcome to TISKA, Reading, a great place to learn the fascinating art of Shotokan Karate.

Learn to defend yourself by focusing on the three main areas of Shotokan Karate; Khion (basics), Kumite (sparing) and Kata (forms) in a controlled and disciplined environment.

As well as covering these three key areas, we focus on building fitness in lessons, whilst still having fun.

Besides teaching you to defend yourself, practicing Karate has much more to offer, such as:

Increased fitness

Increased flexibility

Improved self-confidence and self-esteem

Discipline and etiquette.

Our objectives are to keep a friendly, yet well-disciplined club that works hard and ensures that all our students enjoy themselves whilst learning and developing new skills during their practice of Shotokan Karate.

For more information on training times and how to join, see the Beginners page.

Beginner to Black Belt

This handbook a must for all students. Everything you need to know explained in a step by step easy to follow manner, warm up exercises, self defence techniques, sparring, all kicks, blocks and striking techniques plus 16 katas. This handbook will guide you right through to Black Belt.